Mindanao carnage: Will the brutal police massacre put an end to the misguided fantasy of #Bangsamoro autonomy?

Inquirer columnist Rina Jimenez-David called it a mere “wrinkle” in the “peace process”. “Disheartening” news that is a “cause for concern” is how she describes the massacre of 50 members of the Philippine National Police’s (PNP’s) elite Special Action Force (SAF) allegedly by elements of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). For his part, Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas referred to it as a “misencounter”.

It is interesting how Filipinos cheer the victory of Kurdish forces against the Islamic State in Syria half a world away today but make such lightweight remarks about crimes against humanity occurring in their own backyard. It is easy to issue statements all the way from Imperial Manila that these police officers “died for their country”. If that were true then we should ask whether the way the Philippine government under its president Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III also honours the hundreds of thousands of Filipino soldiers and police officers who, over the last several decades, died fighting these Moro bandits.

Bodies of police officers killed by Muslim rebels being recovered from the site of the massacre.The answer to that question has been known since the so-called “peace negotiations” with the MILF began. That the Philippine government, in cahoots with its Malaysian “broker”, would negotiate with a terrorist organisation is nothing short of a spit on the graves of the Filipino warriors whose blood was spilt in Mindanao fighting the Philippines’ Muslim insurgency.

Yet, the negotiations pushed along — seemingly fuelled by President BS Aquino’s vanity-inspired quest for a Nobel Peace Prize to white-mark the vast blot that is his failed presidency — despite mounting evidence that the entire framework and approach was flawed, perhaps illegal even. That no less than the Philippine president would personally meet with the leader of a terrorist group, MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim back in 2011 had a fishy smell all over it…

A few years after that initial meeting, we now know that he did disregard the Constitution and entered into a contract with the MILF even without the approval of Congress and the judiciary. Here’s the part of the Bangsamoro agreement where some legal experts agree that BS Aquino may have overstepped his role when he represented the Philippine government:

Part 7, para. 4, subpara (b) provides that one of the functions of the Transition Commission is “to work on proposals to amend the Philippine Constitution for the purpose of amending and enriching in the Constitution the agreements of the parties whenever necessary without derogating from any prior peace agreement.”

The above section indicates that amendment of the Constitution is needed to make the agreement legal. Which makes some people wonder why BS Aquino and his staff were already euphoric after the ceremonial signing was held recently. They are very good at celebrating without yet seeing the results of their efforts.

As usual, actions that should have been put into effect long ago (recognising the illegality of this political stunt), before disaster struck, are only now being implemented. Lawmakers who are part of committees reviewing the Bangsamoro Basic Law bill have suspended hearings pending the results of an investigation into the incident. According to Senator Bongbong Marcos who heads these hearings, “A peace settlement cannot be legislated under the threat of such extreme violence.”

You don’t say.

It is interesting to note that this “threat of such extreme violence” would only now be recognised — now that 50 police officers are dead. When there has been no disarmament of Islamic terrorists in Mindanao, there will always be a threat of “extreme violence” there. A US State Department advisory issued in mid-November 2014 warns Americans to “exercise extreme caution if traveling to the main island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines.” Furthermore…

Separatist and terrorist groups across Mindanao continued their violent activities, conducting bombings and kidnappings, attacking civilians and political leaders, and battling Philippine security forces. In particular, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) remain active in the Cotabato City area, and in the Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat provinces, where the government maintains a state of emergency and a greater police presence.

One wonders how, despite coming this far into the process of implementing a Bangsamoro Basic Law presumably hinged on the ability of MILF leaders to control its armed forces, violence originating from Islamic terrorists continues to crush spirits in Mindanao. The disturbing thing that emerges from all this is that the Philippines continues to be plagued by a deadly rogue force still running wild in Mindanao and had this police massacre not happened, the Manila government would have continued to barrel along the same path towards a law that gives legitimacy to these terrorist groups.

Why do people need to die before lessons are learnt in the Philippines? It seems that, in the Philippines, hindsight’s lessons are habitually written using the blood of people who suffered senseless deaths. And even so, none of these lessons seem to ever sink in.

In the real world , this just does not happen. Where somebody who was so unaccomplished in life despite being in the “right” family did nothing in 50 years to distinguish himself. No businesses and no responsibility. Somebody with no impact on society does not simply become Nobel Peace Prize material. But we are not in the real world. We are in the Fantasy Land of a real life fairy. The Emperor has no clothes and no hair. A moron is at the wheel. His mother dying did not make him smart. Go ahead listen to Jimenez- David or Randy… Read more »

As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will never know health or peace. For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OMBJD94BCnM PNP-Special Action Force being pinned down to death without mercy in Maguindanao by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) is not misencountered. MISENCOUNTER – is accidentally or unknowingly come into conflict with (an enemy, army, etc) in battle with few injuries & casualties. Why explain it merely as a MISENCOUNTER? the more appropriate (exact) term or best way to describe the images/video with mutilation is: MASSACRE – indiscriminate and brutal slaughter of people. SLAUGHTER – the killing of a large number of people in a cruel or violent way. CARNAGE – killing of… Read more »

“A mere wrinkle?” That ruined the day for me. So the deaths of your country’s policemen are merely “gusot”?

Heaven knows how deeply I hate every single SOB who comprises our Establishment. Politicians, journalists, “intellectuals”, and all the others who have run this country to the ground – a curse on all of them and their way of thinking.

Forget Jews, Muslims, gypsies or any other scapegoat, I’m very much willing to send these callous SOBs to the gas chambers for their BS. They can all die horrible deaths for all I care, and I won’t shed a single tear.

Another day, another alphabet soup Islamist/separatist organization. When will the government learn it’s being had. I’s not like anyone elected these terrorists. None of these groups have any legitimacy to speak for the people in Mindanao. It’s mind-boggling how we keep trying to bargain away our sovereignty just for temporary peace and quiet.

Unlike most of you here, I am a peacenik when it comes to Mindanao, and thus support any peace initiatives that will resolve the ceaseless wars between the government and the rebels. Unlike most of you here, I am prepared to treat the MILF, BIFF, etc. as equals in the negotiating table provided that they disown their Islamist and terrorist affiliations and any and all dastardly doings they have done (alone or in concert with other rebel groups) in the name of Bangsamoro or Allah or whatever. Unlike most of you here, I am prepared to advocate whatever solutions may… Read more »

Lives of Filipino soldiers do not matter, to Aquino, Roxas and the rest of the YellowTards.
These People: Aquino, Roxas, and the rest of the YellowTards are the REAL enemies of the Philippine Republic. They are ceding a part of the Philippine territory, to the Islamic Radicals to be part of the ISIS Caliphate.

Why aren’t we killing them right now!? As far as I understood this Bangsamoro “state”, the PNP still has to keep the peace over these parts. So why the hell are they being killed?!? Why are we allowing this?!?! Aquino does not realize that their deaths are a slap on the face of the so-called commander-in-chief!!! Why does he allow the peace process to continue? Doesn’t he see that the MILF is just playing us for fools?! This is just idiocy. That Mar Roxas in calling this a “misencounter” insults the dead police. Where is Purisima? It should have been… Read more »

This Country, its Government and sadly its people are FUBAR to allow this to happen! Why people are not out in the streets right now protesting against this insane Government is beyond me! For those unaware, FUBAR stands for Fucked Up Beyond All Reason.

Back in the day, when the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) headed by Nur Misuari reigned supreme in Mindanao, many considered the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as the more rational, tolerable and acceptable entity to engage in negotiation with. But all along the suspicion remains that both groups, while led by different personalities, are really the same in character and spirit. When eventually the MNLF got discredited and lost the appeal the emergence of the MILF was inevitable. With Misuari removed from the picture there was expectation that peace will now be possible in Mindanao. Alas, it was not… Read more »

We need to accept the fact, that it is impossible to merge with these Muslim group as one nation.
These groups has some family, relatives therein and blood is thicker than water.
Whatever negotiation will be made, they will not follow any constitutional changes, as they are one family. They even have some connections in and outside government.What they did to the policemen are HARAM. How do they know the Laws of ALLAH. They only follow the LAWS of money and their guns.